Obituaries

Michael LoGrande

Michael LoGrande, a dedicated public servant, died at East End Hospice in Westhampton Beach Dec. 18, 2018, following an eight-month battle with esophageal cancer.

He was diagnosed two weeks after his daughter, Michele, died of cancer in March 2018. 

LoGrande was former Suffolk County executive, former Islip Town supervisor, Islip Town planning commissioner and chairman and CEO of Suffolk County Water Authority.

Born in Brooklyn, he graduated from Brooklyn Technical High School. After graduation he attended MIT where he received a bachelor of science in civil engineering. He received a master of science in urban planning at Columbia University and completed a Loeb Fellowship with a focus on environmental studies at Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government.

As a young planner, LoGrande worked in Suffolk County planning department where he played an instrumental role in the development of Suffolk County’s comprehensive plan. As the first Islip Town planning commissioner, he developed a town housing authority and community development agency for the purpose of rejuvenating once well-established downtown areas within Islip. In this capacity, he was an advocate for preservation of open spaces, such as the South Shore Nature Center in East Islip. He led the effort to create affordable housing within the town and successfully convinced New York State officials to convey the former Central Islip Psychiatric Hospital to the Town of Islip for the purpose of attracting broad array of mixed uses.

LoGrande’s crowning achievement for the people of Suffolk County was his successful preservation of the Long Island Pine Barrens, which cover nearly 100,000 acres. The Pine Barrens play a critical in protecting the water quality of the aquifer that is the water source for the people of Long Island. As chairman and CEO of SCWA, LoGrande negotiated tirelessly with multiple private water companies to bring safe, clean drinking water to the people of the East End of Long Island.

LoGrande is survived by his wife, Lorraine; his sisters, Patricia Lunetta and Grace LoGrande; his brother, Anthony LoGrande; his son Michael and his wife, Colleen LoGrande; his son John and his wife, Magdalena LoGrande; and his eight grandchildren, Michael J. LoGrande, Anthony B. LoGrande, Olivia L. Bongiorno, Anna M. LoGrande, Catherine M. LoGrande, John J. Bongiorno, Sophia M. Bongiorno and Matthew F. LoGrande.

The Liturgy of Christian Burial was celebrated Dec. 22, 2018, at Our Lady of Good Counsel in Mattituck by Monsignor Joseph W. Staudt. Interment took place at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in Coram.

DeFriest-Grattan Funeral Home served the family.

This is a paid notice.